Life is too short when I’m happy

But too long when I’m sad

When the miracle and the awe

Are swallowed up by the bad.

Emotional pain takes human form

Declaring marshall law

Tosses our souls in that wretched pit

Of slippery surfaces and walls so tall.

We scratch to escape til our fingers bleed

Grasping for cracks in the stone

Each echo returns every cry that we send

A reminder that we’re here alone.

But somewhere beneath all the rubble and weight

A pulse that refuses to fade

A stubborn, defiant, impossible beat

That was never asking for aid.

It doesn’t make sense and it won’t feel fair

This war between broken and whole

But the pit doesn’t get the last word on us

When there’s fire still left in the soul.